Speeches by Munt.

“It is not going to stop, is it? There is no end point when you are going to go, “Okay, fine. Now we need this.””

“If I can pick up on that, Anna, I think you said in 2022 that there was “an appetite” to move towards a single legal services regulator. I wonder whether you still feel that is the right way to go, and whether a single legal services regulator would be preferable to the current situation.”

“I have to say, I have some sympathy with Sir Ashley’s view; you are not able to flex that muscle to make changes. It is surprising to find out that 12% of firms are clearly not complying. That is a difficulty. Your organisation has stated that it is not opposed to reforming the Legal Services Act 2007, and that any fut…”

“You would have had discussions with the Ministry of Justice about that. Is that an open door?”

“Do you feel you have the powers and expertise to influence the improvement of services? If 12% of firms are not being open and transparent, and you are asking and asking them to do so but absolutely nothing is happening, then I sense that you do not have the power, but I might be wrong.”

“On the subject of AI, do you feel you have the appropriate powers and competencies to regulate the new technologies and business models?”

“How do you make them do that?”

“You can be free, because you are just about to leave.”

“What had been issued by your organisation in relation to this before the High Court judgment, and what had been issued between the High Court judgment and the Court of Appeal judgment? Because we are all over the place on this, aren’t we?”

“It probably is.”

“But it did not.”

“But that was clearly a four-year period of utter mayhem for everybody.”

“Yes, but your job is to regulate the regulators.”

“So what have you done? I recognise that you have only been there since January and that I am asking you to speak for your predecessor organisation and leadership, but something, I assume, was done—or was it not?”

“Sorry to interrupt you; why not?”

“Are there any other areas of your remit where you fear you might find yourselves in the same situation going forward?”

“That is absolutely fine; I accept that. How do you make the Law Society behave?”

“Good afternoon. My name is Tessa Munt. I am the Member of Parliament for Wells and Mendip Hills. I am also a director and a vice-chair of WhistleblowersUK, which is a not-for-profit organisation, and vice-chair of the all-party parliamentary group on penal affairs.”

“I want to ask you about your response to the recent Court of Appeal judgment in Mazur. You said that you will “continue to hold regulators to account” to ensure that there is a clear approach across the sector to reserved legal activities. What does that mean?”

“What had been issued by your organisation in relation to this before the High Court judgment, and what had been issued between the High Court judgment and the Court of Appeal judgment? Because we are all over the place on this, aren’t we?”